This is a bottle of fracking sand. It is very fine in order to do its job correctly. The high pressure of the hydraulic fracturing process creates hair-thin cracks in the shale to release natural gas. This sand helps to keep those cracks open, allowing the gas to keep flowing. Thanks to Bill Kappel, hydrologist emeritus of the U.S. Geological Survey and participant in the New York Water Science Center, for access to this sample.
